I recently had a very interesting conversation with a man who has lived all around the globe, currently residing in New Jersey. He told me that he feels passionately about travel because he thinks that it changes who you are and how you see the world every time that you experience a new place and the people that live there.
I love that in working for a travel company, I may be playing a small part in bringing people together and teaching them something new about the world. How awesome is that?!
Many parents are now using travel to teach their children about history, geography, art and environmental issues. Recently, the Taylor family was in the news for renting an RV and touring the United States for the year in an effort to teach their two homeschooled boys about American history. What an amazing opportunity! A learning experience, family time and lots of things to talk about when writing September's "What I did over my summer vacation" essay.
A co-worker of mine is a total pro when it comes to using travel as a teaching tool. She told me about a recent trip that her family took to Rome and the planning that they did before hand. Not only did Catherine prevent the "I'm bored." "What do you want to do?" conversation, she got her kids excited about learning and presented them with a fun opportunity to do so. I'll let her give you the scoop herself...
"We started our planning for a June/July trip in December, the year before. During their holiday break, I asked my boys (ages 10, 9 & 7) to do research on Rome via the Internet. Since they enjoy being on the computer, I tasked them with certain "research" topics...hotels, the Vatican, family activities in Rome, museums, parks, restaurants, etc. Every day, they were to provide their results in the form of "report outs" during dinner time. It was a great way for them to "show off" their research accomplishment for the day, PLUS it gave our family great dinner conversation.
Once the logistics were finalized - dates, hotels, flights, etc. - I assigned each of them a relevant artist whose work we were going to see during our Rome vacation: DaVinci, Michaelangelo and Bernini. This was really a big hit because as we got to each of their works, the "researcher" had to provide a bit of background. For example, my older son was assigned Bernini. While at the museum, we visited the famous statue of Apollo and Daphne; my son then gave a background to their story. Again, it was a great way for them to "show off" their research, gives them practice in public speaking and, was a real way for me to give them context to their research - to see the things they researched on the computer screen come to life. It worked out well, as nearly 90% of our tourist activities involved museums/statues. Having them research the artists prior to our vacation was a great way for them to build ownership to our travels...and, they didn't complain (and, I didn't need Valium).
As part of our planning, I also created "travel kits" which were given to them at the airport, as we were departing for Rome. Each travel kit contained a disposable camera, a journal, a pen, a map of Rome, MadLibs (related to travel), and other goodies including a new reading book and snacks. They were only allowed to open their kits while on the plane. The disposable camera was for them to take pictures of their vacation...through their eyes. And, each night, the boys wrote in their journal about the day's events - again, documenting their vacation through their eyes. When we got back to the States, I created books for each of the kids which contain their pictures, and their journals. When they get older, I'll have something to give them as a reminder about THEIR trip to Rome.
A bit of planning upfront yielded a stress-free, wonderful and memorable family vacation..."Don't you just love that?! She's such a smartie and I'm definitely going to borrow her ideas for when my kids get older. What do you do to engage your children's minds on family trips? From the license plate game to visiting museums or reading books about their favorite animals before visiting a zoo, the possibilities of using travel as an educational tool are endless. Email me some of your suggestions and they could end up posted in the Wyndham Wisdom "Readers Tips" section of WOTW. Send all suggestions/comments to me at WOTW@WyndhamWorldwide.com.
